Cotton-cleaning assembly



July 23, 1929. J. A. STREUN COTTON CLEANING ASSEMBLY Filed April 11,1927 sne ts-sheet 1 mm wag July 23, 1929.

J. STREUN COTTON CLEANING ASSEMBLY Filed April 1 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2a. saw

Patented .liuly 23, was.

'UHTE STATS mama Ee-TET are.

J OHN ARNOLD STREUN, 0F SHERMAN; TEXAS, ASSIGNOR T0 HARDWICKE-ETTER COM-PANY, 01E SHERMAN, TEXAS.

common-cumulus- ASSEMBLY.

Application filed April. 11, 1927. Serial No. 182,635.

My invention relates to cotton cleaners for use in eliminating dirt andtrash from cotton before it is fed to the-gin for separating the lintfrom the seed.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, the cotton picked in thefield and delivered to the gin for ginning is received by the gin invarious conditions, some being comparatively clean and open, while othercotton coming to the gin is mixed with a large amount of trash and maybe only partly open and difiicult to clean. It is, therefore, necessaryin order to prepare the cotton for ginning that the cleaner which isemployed for preparing the cotton should be so equipped as to handle allgrades of cotton. This is made necessary through changes in weather orclimate and through the fact that cotton comes from various localitiesto the gin and in different localities different grades of cotton areraised.

It is the principal object of my invent-ion to provide an apparatus forcleaning cotton which is adapted to handle all grades and conditions ofcotton delivered to the gin and to prepare the cotton for ginning withthe least possible amount of handling, so that the cotton lint need notbe damaged by excessive treatment and cleaning Where such cleaning isnot required.

It is a further object to provide the passage through which the cottonis carried on its way to the gin so equipped with valves and bypassesthat the cotton may be directed through the proper channels with aminimum of manipulation on the part of the operator;

It is desired that the cleaning structure be simple and compact inarrangement and adapted to provide a maximum of cleaning action upon thecotton with the least possible amount of deterioration of the cottondueto handling.

The invention resides largely in the particular construction andarrangement of the parts and the connecting devices whereby my inventionis made effective.

Referring for a more particular knowledge of the invention to thedrawings accompanying the specification, Fig. 1 is a side View largelyin elevation and illustrating my cleaning assembly with the sides-0f thehousing removed and the operating pulleys omitted. Fig. 2 is a top planview of them vention; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section through theconveyor rolls employed in the hulling attachment and illustrating thearrangement of the brushing conveyers employed therewith. Like numeralsof reference are employed to designate like parts in all the views.

The subject matter of the present application is somewhat similar to thedisclosure in my prior co-pending application, Serial No. 56,614, filedSeptember 16, 1925, which has resulted inPatent N 0. 1,630,638. I

In carrying out my invention, it is first desired that the cotton bedelivered to the cleaning devices in such manner as not to damage thecotton lint in any way and to remove therefrom some of the dust and dirtincluded with the cotton. I A

An upper housing 1, shown in Fig. 1-, is

employed above the cleaner. This housing is adapted to contain acylindrical drum 2 with the outer wall thereof foraminated so as toallow the passage of air and dust therethrough from the outer side tothe inner side. The drum is mounted upon the shaft 3 supported in thehousing. The ends of the drum are connected with the suction fan orother means for creatingan inward draught through the flue or pipe 4leading to the housing. The cotton is thus drawn in through the saidflue 4and against the foraminated walls of the drum 2; so as to carrythe dust and finer trash through the drum and out through the endsthereof.

Belowthe drum 2 is a rotatable shaft 5 having thereon rotatable valve orsuction member 6. This valve is made up of a plurality of radial flightshaving at their outer ends a strip 7 of flexible material which isadapted to contact with thecylindrical walls 8 of the housing. It willbe'seen that when roll. The said breaker roll has a series of teeth 13thereon which are adapted to mesh with the teeth 14 upon a plate orconcave secured to the frame of the housing 50. Thus cotton deliveredupon the breaker roll will be carried in the direction of rotationbetween the teeth 14 of the concave and unbroken bolls and burs will bebroken up so that when carried upwardly along the screen 15 the trashand dirt will be partially eliminated.

I have shown four of the picker rolls 12, arranged as previously stated,in a line inclined upwardly from the breaker roll. The screen 15 belowthe rolls is curved to conform to the shape of the rolls so that thecotton will be rubbed and carried beneath the I adjacent rolls andbe-eventually delivered through an opening, indicated at 16, at theupper end of the housing. The picker rolls 12 are cylindrical in shapeand mounted on shafts 17 and journaled for rotation of the housing andhaving radial teeth 18 thereon to engage with and move the cotton alongthe screen below it. Below the rolls 11 and 12 is an inclined lower wall19 on the housing leading to a trash flue 20 by means of which the dirtand trash passing the screen 15 may be conducted from the housing.

As the cotton is delivered through the opening' 16, it passes into achamber 21 which is a valve chamber. The two opposite openings 22 and 23to this chamber are adapted to be closed by valves 24 and 25respectively. These valves comprise plates extending the full width ofthe housing and of a size to close the said openings 22 and 23, saidvalves being pivoted on rods 26 at their lower ends, said rods beingadapted to be rotated so as to vary the position of the valves. When thetwo valves are in erect posit-ion, as shown in Fig. 1, the cotton willpass directly downward upon a conveyer roll 27. If the valve 24 is leftclosed, as shown, and the valve 25 is moved into dotted line position,the cotton will pass through the opening 23 into a chute 28. If,however, the valve 25 is left closed but the valve 2 is opened intodotted line position, the cotton may be delivered through the opening 22into a chute 29.

If the cotton is particularly dirty and the hulls thereon adherent tothe cotton lint, the

- cotton after passing the cleaning rolls 12 will be delivered upon theconveyer 27. Referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted. that the conveyor 27carries the cotton through the side of the housing to the huller. Thehuller com- 'the end of the said roll, leaving an opening at 35 throughwhich the cotton hulls may be delivered to the lower roll 32. Beneathover which the cotton is carried by the convey,er roll 32. It is to beunderstood, of course, that the rolls 31 and 32 are rotated in adirection to carry the cotton from left to right in the upper roll inFig. 3 and from right to left on the roll 32, as shown in Fig. 3.Beneath the conveyer rolls 31 and 32 is a trash conveyer 37 of screwform adapted to carry the finertrash laterally from the housing.

' Referring now to Fig. 1, the cotton delivered upon the upper rolls 31will be carried along the face of a saw cylinder 38 closely adjacentthereto, the said saw cylinder having short teeth 39 thereon to engagewith the lint upon the cotton and remove it from the hulls and trashcarried along the trough 34 of the conveyer roll. The cotton passingfrom the upper conveyer roll 31 to the lower roll 32 will be carriedback again across the face of the saw cylinder 38 and by thus passingtwice across the face of the cylinder, all cotton lint will be removedfrom the hulls and trash and carried upwardly away upon the teeth of thesaw cylinder.

Above the saw cylinder 38 is a baffle roll 40. This roll is adapted torotate in the same direction as the saw cylinder. It has a series ofradial flights 41 which extend to a line closely adjacent to the teethof the saw cylinder and in rotating are adapted to contact with anyhulls or bolls carried upwardly with the cotton lint and to knock thesaid bolls backwardly upon the conveyer roll 31. In this manner trash isprevented from being carried with the cotton lint away from the hullsand trash upon the conveyer rolls.

The cotton is removed from the saw cylinder by the brushing roll 42, ofordinary construction, and is delivered by said brushing roll upon aconveyer 43.

The conveyer screw 43 extends the full length of the huller housing, asshown best in Fig. 2. It rotates in such a direction as to carry thecotton thus cleaned back again into the main housing of the cleaner. Thecotton is delivered by the conveyor screw 43 into a lower chamber 44,shown best in Fig. 1.

The chamber 44 is similar to the chamber 10 above. It has a series ofpicker rolls 45 therein arranged in a row inclined upwardly from thepoint where the cotton is received. the upper roll being adapted todeliver the cotton into. the lower end 46 of the chute 29. These pickerrolls have a screen 47 below them similar in all respects to the screen15 and the picker rolls are rotated in such direction as to carry thecotton from one roll to the next along the screen 47 so as to sift outfrom the cotton any dirt which may remain in the lint. The cotton willthus be submitted to a thorough cleaning before it is discharged intothe chamber 46 upon a conveyer belt 48, which is understood as carryingthe cotton lint to any one or more gins where it is to be separated fromthe seed.

Where the valves 24 and 25 are manipulated to discharge the cotton intothe chute 28, it will be seen that the cotton will be carried downwardlyand discharged into the chamber 44 where it will be submitted to thecleaning action of the rolls and delivered to the conveyer withouthaving to pass through the huller attachment. Where the valves arearranged to discharge the cotton from the chamber 21 into the chute 29directly, it will receive no cleaning other than that received in thechamber 10 under the action of the rolls 11 and 12 therein. It will thusbe understood that the cotton entering through the flue 4 to the feedercleaner within the housing 1 will be submitted to a slight cleaningaction in the housing 1, due to the suction from the housing, of dustand smaller trash. It will be delivered from this housing into thechamber 10, where it will be broken upand carried over the screen, 15through the action of the picker rolls 12. The dust and trash, which isloose within the cot ton, will be thus shaken and sifted from the cottonand carried away through the outlet 20. If the cotton is in goodcondition and fairly clean, it may need no further cleaning than isobtained Within this chamber, and if so, it may be discharged directlyinto the chute 29 to the conveyer belt 48. If, however,

the cotton needs some further cleaning, but

does not necessarily have to pass through the huller, the valves 24 and25 may be arranged to discharge the cotton through the chute 28 and thussubmit it again to a similar cleaning action to that which was receivedin the chamber 10, by passing into the chamber 44 and to thenpass upover the screen 47 for a further cleaning action. After which it will bedelivered to the conveyer belt. If, how- 7 ever, the cotton is to besubmitted to the action of the huller it will be delivered to theconveyer 27 and pass through the hulling attachment in themanner alreadydescribed. In its passage through this portion of the .machine, thehulls and trash will be thoroughly removed from the cotton and thecotton may then be delivered to the picker rolls 45 and the dirt andtrash further removed in its passage through this chamber.

' The advantages of the device lie in the convenient arrangement bymeans of which the cotton may be cleaned selectively as becomesnecessary due to the state of the cotton as it enters the machine. Itwill be possible to sub- .mit all grades of cotton delivered to themachine to such cleaning action as may be necessary to fit it for theginning operation. This may be done with a minimum manipulation andeffort on the part of the operator.

The further advantages of the device will be apparent to those skilledin the art.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cotton cleaner, the combination of a feeder, a cleaning chamber,and a valve chamber arranged to successively receive the per and lowerends, lateral opposite chutes opening into said chamber, a valve memberto close each chute opening, said'valves being so positioned as tocontrol the opening and closing of the lower end of said valve chamberwhenever either of said lateral chutes is open whereby the cotton may bedirected to various passages for treatment.

3. In a cotton cleaner, a cleaning chamber, means to feed cottonthereto, means in said cleaning chamber to move the cotton alon aforaminated screen, a valve chamber at t e discharge end of saidcleaning chamber, valves in the side walls of said valve chamber tocontrol the direction of travel of the cotton, a cotton huller connectedwith said chamber, the opening thereto from the valve chamber being openwhen said valves are in closed position.

4. In a cotton cleaner, a housing, a cleaning device therein, a valvechamber adapted to receive cotton from said cleaning device, means tocontrol the passage of cotton through said chamber, lateral chutesopening. from said valve chamber, a laterally extending conveyer at thelower end of said chamber, a saw cylinder therein, means to receive COt,ton from said conveyer and move it longitudinally of said saw cylinder,means to receive cotton from said cylinder, means to, move said cottonback to saidhousing, and means to fur- .ther clean said cotton.

5. In a cotton cleaner, a housing, a cleaning device therein,-a valvechamber adapted to receive cotton from said cleaning device, saidchambcr to said conveyor belt, may be further cleaned, or may besubmitted to a hulling action as desired.

7 6. In a cotton cleaner, a series of cleaning rolls and a screenbeneath them, in combination with a second set of similar cleaningrolls, a huller including a saw, means to move the cotton across theface of said saw and means to deliver the cotton therefrom to saidsecond cleaning rolls, a conveyor, and means to selectively direct thecotton from said first series of cleaning rolls to said conveyer, or byway of said huller and said second cleaning rolls to said conveyor, orby way of said second cleaner alone to said conveyor, as desired. p

7. In a cotton cleaner, a cleaning chamber, means to feed cottonthereto, an upwardlv inclined foraminated screen, a plurality of pickerrolls rotatable above said screen to advance the cotton along saidscreen, a valve chamber adjacent the said screen, said chamber havingtwo side outlets and a bottom outlet, valves pivoted at the lower sideof each side outlet to swing across said chamber and direct the cottonfrom said screen to any one of the three outlets, a conveyor belt at oneof said outlets, a second cleaning chamber connected with one of saidside outlets, and a huller attachment connected with another of saidoutlets, whereby said cotton may be controlled to obtain repeatedcleanings or hullings as desired.

8. In a device of the character described including a housing, a seriesof cleaning rolls tributer belt, cleaning devices disposed in saidsecond chute, a chute leading from the bottom of said chamber to saidsecond chute cleaning devices, and a huller device disposed in saidbottom chute.

9. In a cotton separator and cleaner, means to clean the cotton, meansto break up the hulls, and means to selectively direct the cotton thruany one of three courses of treatment.

10. A cotton cleaning and separating device, including means whereby thecotton may be subjected to three types of treatment, and means toselectively direct the cotton thru one of said first means.

11. In a device of the character described, a means to feed the cottonthereto, a cleaner thru which the cotton must pass, and means to receivethe cotton from said cleaner whereby it may be selectively directed to aconveyor belt, a cleaner or a huller.

12. In a device of the character described, a means to feed cottonthereto, a cleaner thru which the cotton must pass, and means to receivethe cotton from said cleaner whereby it may be selectively directed to aconveyor, a second cleaner, or a huller and said second cleaner.

13. In a cotton cleaner, a feeder, a cleaner, means to receive thecotton from said cleaner including a valve chamber, a plurality ofopenings therefrom, and a pair of oppositely disposed valves operable todirect the cotton thru any one of said openings.

14. In a device of the character described, a feeder device, a series ofbreaker and cleaner rolls, means to receive the cotton from said rollsby gravity and selectively direct it to a belt, a cleaner, or a huller.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature this 4th day ofApril, A. D. 1927.

JOHN ARNOLD STREUN.

